Small Group Writing

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts,
using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

a. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or
opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear
relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each
while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that
anticipates the audience's knowledge level and concerns.

c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text,
create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons,
between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.

d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to
the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports
the argument presented.

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts,
using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

a. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or
opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear
relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each
while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that
anticipates the audience's knowledge level and concerns.

c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text,
create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons,
between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.

d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to
the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports
the argument presented.

Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing,
rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most
significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should
demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grades
9-10 on page 54.)

01:00:04;24 – 01:00:13;26
[Introductions]
Hi my name is Jennifer Rosenzweig and I’m a ninth and tenth grade English teacher at Bronxville High School and my lesson idea is something that I call Small Group Writing. <Musical Interlude>
01:00:17;21 - 01:00:25;19
[JENNIFER addressing the class]
Alright, we have not done any writing yet about Of Mice and Men and that’s been on purpose because I was sort of saving it up for today.
01:00:25;22 – 01:00:36;25
[JENNIFER – I/V]
Small Group Writing assignment is when kids work in either groups of three or sometimes I put two kids together to create a piece of writing that is persuasive and uh, proves a point.
01:00:36;26 – 01:00:52;26
[JENNIFER addressing the class]
In your group write a response to the following questions, what ultimately is the message of Of Mice and Men? What essential truth does Steinbeck what to convey about the human experience through this work?
01:00:52;28 – 01:01:06;22
[JENNIFER – I/V]
Once they get the question, to me maybe the most important is that discussion of what are we going to prove, right? Because any persuasive piece of writing that that’s…what the writer is thinking about; ‘well what ultimately do I want my reader to take away from this?’
01:01:06;30 – 01:01:23;24
[1st Student:]
I think it was like, he had to die though, ‘cause I don’t think…um
[2nd Student:]
If he was alive Curley would kill em…or put him in jail
[1st Student:]
And so I think even though killing him was sad, I feel like it was actually the right thing to do on George’s part because …he let him die happy
01:01:23;27 - 01:01:50;02
[JENNIFER – I/V]
It works best when you have that moment, for example, at the end of a novel, ‘ok, what does this mean? What is this author trying to tell us?’ Uh, that they can actually have a real opinion about it and its organic it’s not something that they’re being forced; they actually care about it. I think that’s the success of it more than maybe the product because it is hard to write in a group. To me, the whole thing is the discussion that they have about…about what they’re gonna say and then how they’re gonna say it.
01:01:50;20 – 01:02:02;19
[3rdStudent:]
So I think they set the dream for themselves…to…to give them something to look forward to
[4thStudent:]
Yea and like, to sort of keep them going…
01:02:02;20 – 01:02:07;21
[JENNIFER – I/V]
After that comes, ‘what evidence are we going to use? What evidence is significant to my thesis?’
01:02:07;22 – 01:02:15;19
[1st Student:]
We have one showing the hope of the dream; we have one showing how like, he always kills things.
01:02:15;22 - 01:02:48;09
[JENNIFER – I/V]
The activity is group writing so they have to decide together what they’re going to say and what evidence they are going to use, but one person is writing…is taking the notes and writing the first draft of it. <BEAT> What I told my students today is that they were probably going to need two pieces of evidence here to prove your thesis so maybe we’re looking at one longer paragraph or two smaller paragraphs. Um, I don’t like so much to give them, to tell them how many paragraphs it has to be because then all of a sudden they’re sort of filling in blanks…
01:02:45;07
…instead of letting something organic come from them.
01:02:48;21 – 01:02:54;22
[5th Student:]
Lenny is the…immature…
01:02:54;24 – 01:03:06;23
[JENNIFER – I/V]
So they write the first draft and then one of the students reads it out loud which I think is an incredibly important thing when you’re writing to hear it out loud because all of a sudden you’re picking up stuff that doesn’t sound right.
01:03:06;25 – 01:03:15;13
[3rd Student re-reading 1st draft:]
Working on a new branch…brought comfort…working on a new…ah hold on…brought comfort…
01:03:15;17 – 01:03:28;12
[JENNIFER – I/V]
If time allows they can do a second draft, which I really like as well because now they’re editing and proofreading together and I think those are really important skills that sometimes for students because of time, get pushed aside.
01:03:28:14 – 01:03:35;20
[6th Student:]
And I think we should take out unable him and put George was held back…
[5th Student writing the change:]
George was held back by Lenny’s actions…
01:03:35;22 – 01:04:05;09
[JENNIFER – I/V]
When you’re teaching writing, um, my God, you have to try and attack it from every angle you can. I think anytime that you can get the kids to verbalize their opinions and then to think about, ‘how do I translate that to writing’ and they have to verbalize the writing part of it, I just…I think that…there’s very few times that you’re actually able to do that; because writing by itself is a very lonely process and often uh, we feel very frustrated that what’s in our heads can’t get on the page, so this is just another angle at getting…
01:04:05;10
…at that and then making it less scary.
01:04:08;01 – 01:04:10;09
[JENNIFER addressing the class]
Thank you guys, awesome job today.
01:04:10;11 - 01:04:27;12
[JENNIFER – I/V]
A great benefit, from a teacher point of view at the end of this lesson, I have 8 or 9 pieces of writing that I can really spend some time on, give some…real feedback on the kids. We can use as a teaching tool and a building block, so when they do go home with those essays they have more confidence.

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